Magick Matters

13.03.2021

“Escaping Utopia: Growing Up in a Cult, Getting Out, and Starting Over” by Janja Lalich and Karla McLaren

Magick Matters

"We think of cults as bizarre, inexplicable, or otherworldly places that only strange people inhabit, but cults and other abusive and high-demand groups (and relationships) are actually quite commonplace. In fact, the behaviors, social pressures, and authoritarian structures that create cults exist to a greater or lesser extent in every human relationship and every human group. In the first in-depth research of its kind, the author interviewed sixty-five people who were born in or grew up in thirty-nine different cultic groups spanning more than a dozen countries. What’s especially interesting about these individuals is that they each left the cult on their own, without outside help or internal support. In Escaping Utopia: Growing Up in...>>

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13.03.2021

“The Essence of Magick: A Wiccan’s Guide to Successful Witchcraft” by Amaris Silver Moon (kindle version)

Magick Matters

"Are you wondering how magick actually works? Have you cast spells without seeing results? Do you want to learn how to cast spells more efficiently, how to tweak them to your specific situation and needs – and even how to write your own spells? The Essence of Magick is a guide for Wiccans who wish to understand the driving forces behind magick. It teaches you how to tap into these forces and work with them in order to create a joyful, fulfilled and magickal life. You will learn numerous techniques and exercises that will help you discover your true potential as a Witch. This guide is excellent for both the novice and the advanced practitioner, as...>>

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13.03.2021

“Past the Sky’s Rim: The Elder Scrolls and Theology” by Joshua Wise

Magick Matters

"The Elder Scrolls series has entranced gamers for two decades with its deep mythology, complex history, and intriguing locations. Players have explored a world in The Elder Scrolls rich with kings, demons, heroes, magic, and gods. Past the Sky's Rim: The Elder Scrolls and Theology engages with the world from the perspective of academic theology and religious studies. Within these pages, scholars ask what it means to become a god, to die alone in the solitude of Vvardenfell, and to live in a world with different afterlives for different people. Attempting to move beyond a shallow engagement, Past the Sky's Rim considers video games as serious media capable of transmitting important ideas to those...>>

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13.03.2021

“Life Ritualized: A Witch’s Guide to Honoring Life’s Important Moments” by Phoenix LeFae and Gwion Raven

Magick Matters

"Make Every Rite of Passage Sacred and Meaningful. Dozens of group and solitary activities for ritualizing life's changes. Commemorate the moments that shape who you are with this book of rituals designed for rites of passage, no matter how big or small. Drawing on almost thirty years of experience in Witchcraft and Paganism, Phoenix LeFae and Gwion Raven offer powerful activities to honor everything from getting a driver's license to starting a coven to retiring. Life Ritualized offers clear instructions and inspiring stories to deepen your spirituality. Whether it's a weighty occasion like birth, marriage, or death, or a more private one like blessing a new house or changing jobs, this book provides everything you need...>>

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13.03.2021

“Kabbalah: A Neurocognitive Approach to Mystical Experiences” by Shahar Arzy and Moshe Idel

Magick Matters

"In this original study, Moshe Idel, an eminent scholar of Jewish mysticism and thought, and the cognitive neuroscientist and neurologist Shahar Arzy combine their considerable expertise to explore the mysteries of the Kabbalah from an entirely new perspective: that of the human brain. In lieu of the theological, sociological, and psychoanalytic approaches that have generally dominated the study of ecstatic mystical experiences, the authors endeavor to decode the brain mechanisms underlying these phenomena. Arzy and Idel analyze first-person descriptions to explore the Kabbalistic techniques employed by most prominent Jewish mystics to effect bodily reduplications, dissociations, and other phenomena, and compare them with recent neurological observations and modern-day laboratory experiments. The resultant study offers readers...>>

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